Mountings for automatic weapons



May 26, 1964 F. HORN MOUNTINGS FOR AUTOMATIC WEAPONS 2 Sheets-Sheet 1Filed Dec. 5, 1962 .fm/emor: F #112 2 H 0 H2 May 26, 1964 F. HORNMOUNTINGS FOR AUTOMATIC WEAPONS Filed Dec. 3, 1962 2 Sheets-Sheet 2ue/71021 72272 2 Harrz 3,134,302 MoUNTiNGs non AUTOMATIC WEAPONS FranzHorn, Dusseldorf-Nerd, Germany, assignor to.

Fir-ma Rheinrnetall G.n1.b.H., Dusseldorf, Germany Filed Dec. 3, 1962,Ser, No. 241,875 I Ciaimspriority, application Germany Dec. 5, 1961 g p3 Claims. (Cl. 89-46) a The invention relates to the installation andmounting v of a'rnachine gun or similar weapon, mounted movably'in'recoil, but otherwise rigidly in turrets,

M d for example in the rotating turrets of armoured cars.

lnarmoured vehicles it is frequently desirable to fit, in addition tothe gun, also a rigidly fixed machine gun to provide sufiicient firingpower also for shorter distances.-

Howeverythis machine gun must be fixed so that it may recoil and themounting should be gas-tight, that is to say,

I v 'tightagainst'powder smoke and gases, whilst allowing at i theametime a wide range of vertical and lateraladjust ment. In addition,installation and dismantling should be possible quickly and;easily..

In a knownmounting for a machinegun, the barrel is locatedat the muzzleend longitudinally displaceably in a sleeve which-expands conicallytowards'the outside, and which is mounted in turn by .means of a screwedsleeve e and asp herical annulus. 1 as -forward pivot bearing and islocated in turn in the Wall offthe. turretby means of special dividedsleeves, adapted in shapeto the spherical configuration. The machine gunhousing isnot, however, movable inrecoil. v j Tl 1e,manufacture ofassociated spherical surfaces and ,counter-supports is" ratherexpensive; furthermore, also This spherical annulusserves In therevolving turret 1 of an'armoured vehicle is mounted the verticallypivotable shield 2 for the gun-barrel (not shown) and for a'machiue gun.To provide protection against enemy fire, theshield has an outsidescreen 3. The machine gun has within the zone of the muzzle a recoilbooster 5, connected by a thread with the housing,

and carrying on its rear end an annular shoulder 6 with. sphericallyshaped circumference. This annular shoulderf 6 is located longitudinally'displaceably in a cylindrical bore 7 of the screen; in'this way themuzzle of the weapon is articulatedly and also. longitudinallydisplaceably lo cated in the screen. Apart from that, the machine gun ismounted longitudinally displaceably in a slide 8 in order to absorb therecoil movements;jthe'slide 8 is connected with the carriage base 9.Slide 3 and base 9 from the mounting which is equipped with an adjustingdevice in order to adjust the machinegun' in heightand laterally. Thismountingis fixed by means of boltsfll, located in oblong holes Iii, tothe cradle 12 of the gun barrel (not shown). After unscrewing thesebolts, the mounting maybe adjusted by means of anadjusting screw 13,resting against a pin' 14 mounted on the cradle, so as to provideadjustment in height, whilst the entire-mounting with the rear end ofthe machine gun may 'swivel in thevertical plane 1 upwardly anddownwardly about the annular shoulder.

1 by means of which the slide ismounted to the mounting the mounting anddismantling of the weapon become very hiring tolerances results ininaccuracies, and the presence Ilation of the weaponmay befulfilledinthat the pivot b ore in-the; wall of the turret. or thei gunshieldflectedjowards the front.

-w'hichr" gclewithjri gidly mountedmachine -gun, j

hows the recoil boosterwithannular shoulder.

In addition, with a plurality of components, ar-' ranged-Ionewithintheother, summation of the manufacofa'plurality of sliding,mutually movable parts leads to H invention, these drawbacks maybe iavoided, and the requirements made regarding the instalbearing ormounting forms a part of the recoil booster or the'ilike, and-has theshape' of anjexternally sphericalan p nularshoulder'surrounding thesame, and mounted uni- 45 i ve rsall y movably'and axiallydisplaceably'in acylindric'al',

:;The characteristic featurefof the mounting according to the invention.is its simplicity, eliminating sleeves, ball -.mounting,:spherical.shells}andthe like, which require 1 0' arcuatezr'ecesisjsothat-the powder gases fare efiectively de- 1 Vefinventionfwillxbefurther described, byway of en ample; withreferenceto' the accompanying drawings, in F 6 I shows therevolvingturmt of an armoured vehi nular shoulder 6 is located andconnected byiweldingwith Y the recoil booster. As may beseen fromthedrawing, the annular shoulder has anfa'rcuate recess 18 within the zoneof the outlets ;17.i ln this way," the powder' gases are Preferably, theannularshoulder'sis mounted immedilateralj outlets for the powder gasesn on base. l-Iowever, 'inthis case, the slide 8 moves merely I withtherear end of the machine gun relative to the mounting'base inthehorizontal plane;

- FIG. 2 shows the recoil b'ooster5,connected thread withthe weaponhousing-.inthemuz'zle region, thatiis to say, rigidly connected with theweapon; Immediately'be V hind the lateral openingslTfor the powdergases, the an reliably deflected towards the front. a

h IClaimisp I 1'.A mountingfor'mac'hine 'gunsin turrets of armoured fvehicles, comprising a gun fshield having a-screen with a' d cylindricalbore therein, a 'reco'ilboosterjon a muzzle of the'gufn and having anexternallypart-spherical annular shoulder mounted in thejbo're with theshoulder infcontact with the boreso that'thebooster isuniversallymovable and axially displaceableinthe 'bore, 'and saidshoulder forming a'piyotibearing for't'he recoil booster; I

' 2. Amountin'g according to claim 1, in whichthe recoil I booster isprovided with a plurality of lateral outlets mediately behind theannular-shoulder for the escape of the, powder gases by idefiectiontowards the front. 7

' A mounting according'to claim -l,'in which the recoil j, booster-"isprovidedwith aiplhralityof lateral outlets -im-' I mediate 1y.behind'the annular shoulder for the escape o f'the powder gases bydeflection towards the-front, and fin which'theannular-fshoulderfhasan'arcuate recess op'en 1 towards the "front and: cooperating with thelateraloutlet s.

j ;.lReferen jc'es inthe file ofthisYpatent 1 outrun"S A S".-PATENrs' I3,134,302 Patented May 26, 19 64;

1. A MOUNTING FOR MACHINE GUNS IN TURRETS OF ARMOURED VEHICLES,COMPRISING A GUN SHIELD HAVING A SCREEN WITH A CYLINDRICAL BORE THEREIN,A RECOIL BOOSTER ON A MUZZLE OF THE GUN AND HAVING AN EXTERNALLYPART-SPHERICAL ANNULAR SHOULDER MOUNTED IN THE BORE WITH THE SHOULDER INCONTACT WITH THE BORE SO THAT THE BOOSTER IS UNIVERSALLY MOVABLE ANDAXIALLY DISPLACEABLE IN THE BORE, AND SAID SHOULDER FORMING A PIVOTBEARING FOR THE RECOIL BOOSTER.